


When a Grease Monkey and A Bad Cop Fall in Love...

by Dellessa



Series: Pursuit [8]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Xenophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-22
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-27 07:16:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/975990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dellessa/pseuds/Dellessa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>~64 Drabbles centered around Barricade and Mikaela. This is set in the same verse as Pursuit. The story is told in a non-linear manner. :3</p><p>Possibly AU to the main storyline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**1\. 2 a.m.**

Mikaela wondered if she was going to have to find some toothpicks to hold her eyes open. The breeze was cool against her skin, and the cool night air brushed her skin. "Cade."

"Not long," her mate smiled. He turned his optics up to he sky, and watched the first of the Perseids streak across the sky.

"They are...beautiful," she declared from her perch on his shoulder, leaning her head against his. She looked up and couldn't help but marvel how sharp and crisp the stars were sprinkled against the night sky. It stretched out for what seemed like infinity, and perhaps it did.

**2\. metaphor**

Cade watched her from across the warehouse. Watched how she moved, watched her watching him back, watched her simply to watch her. He was not entirely sure when things had changed, when they had gone awry from his original intent. But they had, and the Witwicky child was the last thing on his processor. She, however, was like an endless tune feeding through his processor. One, he was sure, he could get quite used to.

**3\. sky**

The desert sky stretched out before them as the Saleen Mustang and his girl raced down the road. A yellow camaro trailed behind, not quite letting his engine loose yet. Dust clouds flew up behind them, wafting up and obscuring the blue stratosphere. They would race, eventually, but for now they headed towards the lake.

There would surely be photos of sea monsters on You Tube the next day. Possibly even Giant Robots as well.

**4\. lost scene**

Barricade fled from Mission City. He raced away, sighing inside. There was no way he was going to stick around just to have his aft handed to him by a bunch of Autobots. His progenitor would most likely to be the first in line to do it.

There were somethings Barricade was willing to do. This wasn't one of them.

**5\. degrees**

Mikaela felt as though she was going to melt into a puddle. The summer heat was overwhelming. She looked up, squinting. It had to be at least twice as hot in Autobotcity. There was no shade, no reprieve. She made her way to the bunker she shared with Cade, relieved to step back into the shadows and the cool air within.

**6\. seize the day**

He raced through the streets of Iacon. Full throttle. So fast it made even his spark flutter with a faint trill of fear. Still he went faster, heedless of the danger. Careless. But he didn't care. He couldn't care. All he needed was this.

**7\. opposite**

Barricade glared at his cousin across the expanse of the room. The yellow bot was everything he was not. Everything that his creator wanted, and it made Barricade bitter with it. It made Barricade feel inferior. He could not stand it.

**8\. passions run**

Mikaela sighed, feeling spent and languid. She smiled, pleased. It was always that way. She stretched, the plating pleasantly warm against her back. "That-was wonderful." she finally laughed.

"Just wonderful?'

She chuckled, closing her eyes and enjoying the after-glow. "You know it was more than that."

**9\. connection**

Mikaela leaned against the hot plated metal and sighed in bliss. Their bond pulling at her. His mind touched her's and she gasped.

. It ran through her like wild-fire, burning her little beating organic heart to cinders. For the life of her she never wanted to it to stop.

**10\. lull and storm**

"No new arrivals this week."

"Thank Primus," Barricade rolled his optics.

She smiled, "Tired of explaining that?" She asked, looking at his new paint job.

"To say the least."

"That bad?"

"You really don't want to know."

"Could be worse." Mikaela said.

"How?"

"Well, you know. You could be the twins, and have to explain the paintball fiasco, and how Screwdriver got covered in pink paint."

"There is that."

**11\. animal**

"What-is that?" Cade asked sounding horrified.

"It's a cat." Mikaela said patiently.

"Why is it here?"

"Why not? Pets are nice."

"Funny," he said, eyes still on the creature. The animal was shifty looking, not unlike Ravage.

"You're scared of it?" Mikaela laughed, and then laughed harder at the glare he gave her.

"You're scared of spiders."

"So...does that mean if it walked near you you will squeal like a little femme?"

"You are so funny, Kaela."

"And you are not denying it," she said triumphantly.

**12\. children**

Sometimes, after the fact, she cried herself to sleep for what could have been. What had been lost. It broke his spark. Broke it into thousands of pieces. And despite himself he knew that eventually he would find a way to give her what she wanted.

It hurt her more than she would admit to him. Nearly crushed her when her body rejected it. Hope flowing away with each drop of blood.

**13\. we all float on**

Mikaela curled up against Cade on the medical berth. It hurt.

"We will get through this," he murmured.

"Easier said than done."

"I know. Platitudes, but we really will."

"We always do," she agreed.

**14\. chess**

Mikaela watched in disgust as Bumblebee and Cade stared at the chessboard. They had been at it for hours, and she wished they could have found something more interesting to do with their time. Something less quiet. Less stare-y.

To her reckoning video games would have been preferable.

**15\. duty**

Orion had always liked to lecture him about his duties to his family. He was Prime-Kin, highest of the high, and he should act it. No street racing. No being thrown in to the brig. No starting fights. He had never been very good at following any of his progenitor's rules. He didn't care to start now. To the pits with it.

**16\. rip**

"Damn it, watch those claws."

"I didn't mean to."

Mikaela leveled him with what he termed "the evil eye." "That was my favourite shirt."

"Guess you will have to get a new favourite then, cause that one has bit the dust."

"Oh-you-you jerk. I could just smother you in your sleep."

"I don't really need to breath."

"That is beside the point."

**17\. missing time**

Mikaela woke up and squinted in the dull light. She wasn't sure where she was, how she had got there, or even why she was there. Her eyes alighted on Barricade, obviously in recharge,and it all came flooding back to her. Most of it anyway.

**18\. crest**

Her breath hitched. She gasped. Cried out. Felt it building until-until it pushed her over like a wave. She may have screamed, she wasn't sure. Everything went white.

And then she came to and found herself sprawled across his palm, panting. The nanites still jittering in her system, and she laughed. It was still, by far and away better than any sex she had had as a human. She knew it was partly because it was Him, and partly because he knew her body inside and out-much to her consternation at times. She stretched, still smiling. "That-was perfect."

He only chuckled.

**19\. itch**

Cade glared out the doorway at the guards still posted there. Five days and counting. He was itching to get out without supervision. Itching to take Mikaela places that were not here. Just itching to get away.

Arcee cast him a warning glance, and he stepped back deeper into the shadows and reconciled himself to find something to while away the hours until they could finally leave.

**20\. explode**

Cade's holoform walked hand in hand with Mikaela through the mall. He glared down the human males that gave his mate appreciative glances. He could have growled at them all. It made his processor feel as though it was going to combust.

**21\. rise**

Mikaela cracked and eyelid open and finally sat up.

"Good morning, my little fleshling."

"Morning yourself." Mikaela said, hopping down onto the floor.

"You recharge so much."

"You recharge so little. What is your point, Cade?"

"It's boring without you."

"I can say-I feel the same."

**22\. crumble**

Mikaela looked at the letter for one moment. She knew the address well, and she wondered for a moment how they had found her. She crumpled it in her hand, not bothering to read it and tossed it in the trashcan.

"Kaela...maybe you should call them."

"I have nothing to say to either of them." She said firmly.

"But-"

"No buts. They are not part of my life wouldn't understand this. And...I...I just don't want to deal with them."

He nodded not liking how she was running away from things. "As you wish."

**23\. range**

Mikaela frowned, not sure who to be more annoyed with. Her earstwhile instructor, or the targets that seemed to jump out of the way of her bullets.

"I don't understand how you could be so bad at this." Barricade groused.

"Thanks for the encouragement. I love you too."

**24\. fight/flight**

Mikaela closed her eyes tight, refusing to look at the speedometer, or the road. "Barricade, could you slow down?"

"Not yet, they might still catch us."

"They might," she agreed, "But wrecking...well I will be just as dead."

"I am not going to wreck." he said in a haughty tone, and she knew she had said the wrong thing. Had tread on his ego.

"Yeah...right. My mistake."

**25\. acid**

Mikaela swallowed hard, fighting back panic and what felt like acid creeping up her throat. It was better some days than others. It was hard to look at the sparklings. It made her think of the blood. It had been everywhere. She touched her growing stomach. This time it would work out. Ratchet said it was healthy, and was doing better than expected. She felt a flutter, barely a kick, and could not help but smile. Life was so precious.

She could still feel the acid, but she figured eventually the morning sickness would depart.

**26\. color**

"It looks nice." Mikaela said sitting back and admiring Cade's new paint job. "It suits you, Hellraiser."

She could feel him bristle.

"Oh, stop it. It really does look good. Red symbols suit you better. It's hot." She chuckled.

"Oh?" He finally asked transforming into his root form.

"Yes." She grinned, "But I think you are hot any which way."

**27\. give**

"Happy birthday." He said.

She knew him well enough not to trust the gleam in his optic. "What is it."

He laughed, "Just open it."

She peeled away the tissue paper-couldn't help but wonder who had helped him wrap it-and found a datapad inside. "Oh, lovely. Just what I always wanted."

"Read it, you never know, you might like it."

"Poetry?"

"About you." he laughed.

**28\. needle**

"It will only hurt for a moment." Ratchet said in a soothing tone. Or at least his attempt at one. It was only partly successful.

"There was so much blood." She whimpered.

"I know, sweet-spark." She was already drifting into oblivion.

"Please don't tell him yet." Her eyes drifted closed and Ratchet sighed. Scared himself for her.

**29\. locks**

Mikaela fiddled with the lock until she heard a little click, and finally pulled the door open. She gave Cade a perturbed look. For such an advanced organism you would think he would remember the keys to the warehouse. It seemed, to Mikaela, that he forgot the keys at least once a week. "Sometimes...I think you do that on purpose."

"I might."

**30\. slope**

Mikaela leaned back against the slope of the roof, eyes closed as she let the sun lull her into a half sleep. The desert sun beat down on her, making her skin prickle. She knew she couldn't stay up here long worshipping the sun, unless she wanted to pay the consequences.

"What are you doing up there?" Barricade asked, optics wide. His annoyance clear.

"Cooking, obviously."

**31\. correspondence**

Mikaela picked up the sheet of paper off the table and frowned as she tried to make sense of the symbols. High autobot. It was difficult for her. Much more difficult that the fluid scrawl of the seekers. She had picked that up much like breathing. The angular written language of the autobots was a different thing entirely. She squinted at it until it finally made sense.

" _Out on patrol with the Insect. Will be back before dark._

_Love,_   
_Cade._

_p.s. check the datapad. "_

Her lips twitched up in an amused smile. If nothing else he was a persistent teacher, and a scarily prolific poet.

**32\. linger**

"We are going to be late." Mikaela said at last.

"I know."

"Well-stop giving me googly eyes and lets go."

He laughed, "What? I like to look at you."

"Don't I know. Look later, we're late!"

"Like Optimus is going anywhere. I think he can wait a moment."

**33\. charm**

She opened the little box carefully. She wasn't so much scared of the contents. It wasn't as though he pranked her like the twins. She finally pulled the necklace out of the box, and blinked. "You...got me dogtags. Wow."

He laughed, "Look at them."

She flipped them over. 'Kaela' was on the first, and on the second a little autobot symbol.

"Like it?"

She beamed, slipping it over her head, "I do. I really do."

**34\. roads**

They raced down the dirt road, dust flying behind them and Bumblebee hot on their trail. "Go! Go! Go!" Mikaela cheered from the passenger seat laughing. "We're gonna beat them!"

They roared past Arcee's place at their makeshift finish line.

"We won! Movie night is our pick!" Kaela said, giggling from the passenger seat.

"Glad you're happy about it. We'll have to listen to Bee sulk for a week." Cade would have shaken his head had he been in root form. The things they did for entertainment on the base, it was so different from being a decepticon.

**35\. hunger**

"Are we there yet."

"No, Mikaela, we aren't there yet. Does it look like we are there yet? No, we are still in the middle of the desert."

"I was just hoping."

"That all of this was a mirage?"

"No, I was hoping to get something to eat before I shrivel up and die."

"Exageration will get you nowhere."

"So I'm learning."

**36\. reciprocity**

Barricade looked up, a frown moving across his face plates. "I think...I love you."

"You make it sound like the worse thing in the world."

"It might be."

"I think I love you too, jerk."

**37\. kind**

Mikaela looked at the present on the table. The wrapping looked like it was done by an uncoordinated five year old. She raised a brow, looking to Cade. "For me?"

"Just because." He shrugged looking faintly uncomfortable.

She peeled away the paper revealing a large plastic box. Mikaela frowned, opening it. Tools. Much like the ones she used when helping Ratchet, only a bit nicer. New, in fact.

"Ratchet helped me." He said sounding painfully sheepish.

"Oh, Cade." She gave him a watery smile.

**38\. fruity**

Cade raised a brow plate, and looked from Sam, then to Mikaela, and back again. "What...is that?"

Mikaela gave him a withering look. As withering as one could get with red, wet goo dripping from her hair. "Strawberries. The blender exploded."

Cade was hard pressed not to laugh at his mate. "Ah."

"Don't you dare laugh, I will kick your aft across the base. I swear I will."

**39\. half-life**

Barricade looked out of the hull-side port hole of Nemesis. There was so much emptiness out there. He supposed it was apt. He felt that way inside. Perhaps it would have been better had he died with Andromeda rather than have her life's liquid staining his hands.

**40\. comedy of errors**

"Cade!" Kaela ran at him Nearly close enough to grope him when her eyes went wide, and she nearly slammed into a holo form. Her eyes widened as she realized it was not Cade. "Oh...Optimus,what are you doing here?"

**41\. tragedy**

Barricade stared down at the bodies of his cousins,and felt the panic well up for one moment. He hid it well. They were nothing but parts now. A lifeless pile of limbs, and he had made them so. He could just as easily been one of them. So easily.

**42\. hope is the thing with feathers**

"What does that even mean?" Barricade growled.

"What?" she asked peering at the card in his hand.

"Hope is a thing with feathers? It means hope flies, it has wings."

"So-what...it's a Seeker?"

"Sometimes-I really wonder about you."

**43\. empire**

Barricade looked out at the shattered landscape of Iacon city. He wasn't sure if it would be for the last time or not. This was not how he wanted to remember it. The towering spire fallen, the streets blacked. Inside he cried. Outside he was blank faced. His life depended on that.

**44\. turpentine kisses and mistaken blows**

Barricade looked down into Andromeda's face. She was already grey with death. His spark beat erratically in his chest, and not for the first time he wished he could join her in the well. If he was going to the well. More than likely he was going to the pit. It was only what he deserved.

**45\. rings**

Mikaela looked down at the two rings encircling her finger. The diamond glinted in the light, sparkling. She didn't ask where Cade had gotten them, something were just better left unsaid.

**46\. dust**

Barricade hated Earth. Hated the people. Hated the glaring sun that over-heated his plating. He hated the natives. The streets. The buildings. Most of all he hated the dust, and how it settled between his joints. No matter how many times he stepped into the wash-racks, it was back in a nanoclick.

He never felt clean on this dirt-ball.

**47\. every you, every me**

He gave her a sideways was foolish, but he could not help it. He couldn't stop it. He knew he would give her anything. Anything in his power and more. Giving up his faction was easy enough, surprisingly. It was all he had for eons. All he knew, and all he remembered, but this was better.

There was just nothing else to do.

**48\. project**

Cade looked up from the data pad for a moment and wondered if she would like it. It had been so long since he had composed anything, his processor felt sluggish about it, but the muse still beckoned him. He was nearly finished. It was nearly dawn.

**49\. adore**

Mikaela laughed, sitting on his knee, leaning against him she had the oddest habit of moving the controller which ever way she was trying to get her cart to go on the video game. She should have been very bad, all things considered. She was very good though. So good he never won a single match.

She gave him a suspicious glance as she looked up at him, and wondered if he was letting her win.

Barricade just grinned. Love makes you do funny things.

**50\. murmur**

"I love you."

He barely caught it, but he was on to her now. "Did you say something."

Mikaela's lips curled into a mischievous smile. "Nothing at all."

Cade gave her a sideways glance, his optics narrowing. "I love you, too."

"What was that?"

He smiled, "Nothing at all."

**51\. above**

"So..." she looked up, watching the jets wing across the sky.

"What?"

"Megatron and..."

"Yes, I think we have established that."

"So...what...he is like your aunt?" Mikaela said in a choked voice.

"You know. He will kill you if he hears you say that."

"So, he IS like your aunt."

"Pretty much so."

**52\. below**

Mikaela looked down at the ground and scowled. It wasn't that she was scared of heights. It wasn't that she didn't know he would catch her if she started to fall. It was just so far below to the ground.

"I'm not going to drop you," he scoffed.

"I know. It's the principle of it."

"Right. And you aren't scared of heights."

"Shove it, Cade."

"Me'thinks the Lady Doth protest too much."

"And stop fragging misquoting Shakespeare at me."

**53\. incalculable**

She was priceless. Still he worried how long they had. It was impossible to tell. She was not aging, but she could still die. He tried not to dwell on it. Didn't talk to her about it. Because he knew what she would say. Keep on living. But he wouldn't. He couldn't. So it didn't even bare thinking about.

**54\. wire**

She pinched the wire between her fingers and grinned when he twitched. "Pay backs are hell, my love."

He only grunted. "You never complained."

"And I'm not now," she grinned impishly, tweaking the wire again.

**55\. landslide**

"Barricade." Mikaela screamed from under a pile of books, blankets, and things she didn't have names for. "Hell." She crawled out from under the landslide of items. This was not what she had in mind when she told him to clean up.

**56\. the beginning is the end is the beginning**

Mikaela considered everything that had happened in the past few months. Her old life was assuredly over. Over before it even really began. Thinking on it, she was okay with that. There was just so much more now. So much more for her to do. They had forever.

**57\. door**

There was a knock. And then another. Kaela frowned, and finally opened the door. "Ah...Alexis? What are you-"

"Where is he?"

"Where is who-Oh Warp? I don't know. What happened?"

"You mean what this time? I don't know. All I know is Prowl is looking for him, and I think he has murder on the mind."

"You make it sound like that never happens." Mikaela laughed.

"I wish it didn't."

"Good luck with that. He's probably with Screwdriver and the Twins."

"Dear lord, I hope not."

**58\. enemy gate**

The first time rolling into the Autobots' base the gatehouse made him nervous. It was not so much that he was fearful of the Autobots. Not that he worried for Mikaela. It was ingrained after thousands of years of being at war. He wasn't sure if he would ever be comfortable with it. All he could do was try, and he was more than willing to do so for her.

**59\. stone**

Mikaela grabbed a flat stone and threw it across the lake's flat surface. It skipped once, twice, three times before sinking out of sight. She picked up another and did the same, and smiled faintly.

"You okay?" Barricade asked from further up the shoreline.

"Yes." she said, grabbing another flat stone. It was oddly relaxing. "Just worried. That's all."

"About?"

"Sam, mostly, I guess."

The mech sighed, "He is nothing but trouble."

"I know. Don't I know."

**60\. bright**

Mikaela squinted her eyes, looking across the expanse of desert. The sun beat down harsh and brightly. She glanced at Cade's alt form and wondered, not for the first time, how he could stand it. His plating was hot enough to burn her fingers. Yet, he would fall into recharge given half the chance.

**61\. stories**

Mikaela sat back and watched the sparklings clamour over Barricade. She was surprised at first when he offered to help her with her spark-sitting gig. She was still more surprised with how well they took to him. Amused by their chatter and more amused by how animated he became as he told them stories of Cybertron.

**62\. chime**

Mikaela listened to the chime, and frowned. The installation of a doorbell was brilliant. Then again, everyone was tired of walking in on them. Mikaela was REALLY tired of it.

"Come in," she yelled.

Bee peaked inside. "Oh, it is safe, great."

Mikaela just rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like that is all we do."

"Isn't it?"

"That, my dear Goldenbug, is like the pot calling the kettle black."

"I don't even know what it means."

"Not my problem, Bug."

**63\. laugh**

Mikaela held the sparkling, rocking it. She was still amazed with how small they were at the start. So very small. She smiled down at Bliss, and the little seekerling smiled back, and giggled. Her laughter was like music to Kaela's ears.

Cade's holoform leaned over her shoulder, "Hey, beautiful," he smiled at Bliss, making the sparkling let out another peel of laughter. "She is so perfect."

"She is." Mikaela agreed. "She really is."

**64\. hold**

"Does if hurt?" Mikaela asked, as she watched Ratchet work. She held on tightly to the finger nearest to her. Cursing their differences for once.

Ratchet sanded down the first of the brandmarks on his arm. "It doesn't feel good." Barricade admitted.

"You said you wanted to be awake." Ratchet said, and wondered if the mech had changed his mind.

"I do." Barricade said, his eyes on Mikaela. It was the last threads of his old life, and he needed to be awake to see them go.

Mikaela's lips curled into a smile, she just wished she could hold on to him.


	2. Hybrids and Hell to Pay

~Pursuit Spoiler Heavy.  
~64 drabbles. Mikaela and Barricade-centeric. Events that have, and will happen in my Pursuit-verse. The storyistoldin a non-linear, out of sequence fashion.  
~Original 64 from: 64damn-prompts. livejournal. com /profile  
~Warnings: Probable mentions of...holo!sex and/or nanites, hybrids, religion, andmentions of violence...nothing major. If sparklings or children scare you run far away fromthis fic.

~As usual, I own nothing.3

 **1\. consent**  
"Well?"

"Well what?" Mikaela hissed under her breath.

"Do you-"

"You ask me now? Little late, sweetie. But for the record, yes." she laughed squirming under his holoform.

**2\. profession**

Mikaela looked at her youngest, Coraline, who sat on the medical table, sniffling. Her skinned knee leaked pink fluid. Mikaela cleaned the wound, and finally put a static wrap around the injured knee. "Sweetie, you need to be more careful."

"Hinder pushed me."

"Aw, I will have his father speak with him then."

Coraline groaned, "Don't tell Dad. He'll make us write out lines of code."

Mikaela laughed, "I'm sure he will, and worse."

 **3\. lake**  
The "lake" outside what Cade deemed their "summer home" was still. Still at the moment. It was only a matter of time before the children where shrieking and splashing about. She might even join them this time. She had forgotten how unbearable the earth summers were. It made her sad to return home. It was never a long stay any longer. It was simply too dangerous.

She never expected them to win the war and still be in terrible danger. Cybertron was being rebuilt. The colonies were thriving, and yet it was unsafe for her and her children to say on earth for any length of time. The crazies always found them, eventually. Sadly, humans did not deal well with change. Hybrids were beyond that. Beyond the bounds of their religious fervor. Granted, there were now more than a few human followers of Primus, which she found amusing. She smiled at the thought, and enjoyed the lakeside view whilst she could.

**4\. bionics**

Mikaela looked through the microscope at the nanites, and frowned. It was delicate work to say the least. Delicate, but interesting. She had been taking nanite samples from each of the children for years now. They were healthy, but she worried, and Ratchet had thought it would be a good idea. Hybrids were not common. And human hybrids even less so.

So she studied, and complied her results, and hoped that if it did not help her own children, it would help someone else's. As Prime said often enough, their species were bound together. There were more children from the two races than she had ever expected there to be.

Besides her own five brats, Ironhide and Sarah had three. Skywarp and Alexis had two. She shook her head at the thought. Two little Skywarps running around was more than enough to horrify any sane person... or bot. It was even more curious that they inherited their progenitors warping ability, but not their mothers afinity for datamancy. What the nanites passed from one generation to the next was always remarkable.

**5\. assurance**

Mikaela looked at the ship doubtfully. "So...that is Valiant?"

Cade chuckled, "It is."

"And we are...ah...going to be living in it?"

"It won't be so bad."

She gave him a doubtful look. "With the children?"

"It's not a small ship."

"No. But I've never...you know."

"I know." He laughed.

**6\. matriculate**

"So...you went to that Academy thing?"

"In Iacon. Yes, I did. So did Bee."

"Mmm...I cannot imagine. I never thought I would go to college."

"Perhaps in another lifetime." He offered. "Apprenticeship suited you better anyway."

"Mmmm...yes, it did." Mikaela barked a laugh. "Ratchet was a hard teacher. I almost feel for Annabelle."

**7\. situation**

Mikaela narrowed her eyes, looking from Cade, to the sparkings, and then to the mess that was their living area. "I thought you said you had the situation under control."

"I do." he said in a placating tone, or at least what he hoped was one.

"THIS is NOT under control, Cade. This is a wreck."

"We'll clean it up, Aunt Kaela." Screwdriver grinned.

"Why does that make me worry even more?" she grumbled.

**8\. overload**

The feedback bounced across the bond, sending Mikaela keening. For once she did not lose her hold on consciousness, and watched Cade find his own release after hers. It was beautiful in her eyes, the electricity dancing across his frame, and finally he off-lined as it reached a crescendo.

"So beautiful." she murmured, and grinned at him when he finally came back on-line.

 **9\. increment**  
Their numbers had grown incrementally with more and more arrivals in the resent months. Mikaela have not yet met all of the new bots on earth. She wasn't sure what to think of them. They looked at Cade suspiciously, and her equally so.

**10\. popularity**

Barricade glared at the crowd in the center of the quad. His cousin at the center. His optics narrowed as he watched the yellow bot. He hated academy, but he hated his cousin more. Everyone seemed to fawn over the yellow mech. It was enough to make him grit his dental plates.

**11\. brilliant**

The eldest of the two sets of twins looked up at their progenitor with watery pleading eyes. They were alarmingly, bright blue, and pitiful looking. It was all an act. Clearly. An act bent on manipulating his emotions. Unfortunately, it was working. They looked far too much like their mother's.

"Fine, go swimming." he glared at his creations, as they ran off to grab their swimming gear.

"You...are the biggest softy ever." Mikaela smirked.

"Like you are any better."

 

"What is the rush?" Mikaela blinked up as Skywarp, and wondered why the mech was in her living room.

"Alexis. Infirmary. Ratchet needs you now." He practically flailed about.

Mikaela could only sigh inside. The seeker had been in thousands of battles. Killed mechs, and seen mechs die. Mikaela could only raise a brow that he would panic over this. "Let me get dressed. It will-"

She didn't have time to get it all up before he snatched her up and teleported them to the med-bay.

"Hi, Ratch."

The red and white mech looked at her in alarm. "We have time. You could have at least gotten dressed." He took in her purple and white pajamas in.

"I'm well aware." she gave Skywarp the evil-eye. "You would think Alexis was the first person on the face of the earth to give birth."

Warp glared right back.

**13\. therapy**

Mikaela frowned, hiding her head underneath the covers. Even though it was muffled she could still hear her parents screaming at each other. She shivered hugging herself tightly. She hated when they fought. Hated the yelling, and even more hated when it escalated from there.

 

Morning came early, too early. Mikaela opened her eyes cautiously, then closed them quickly, the new days sunlight nearly painful. She pulled the covers over her head, and tried to drift back off. She was not, nor ever would be a morning person. As luck would have it, neither was Barricade.

**15\. pink**

Mikaela bent down, looking at the little femme and sighed, there was no use, the paint wasn't coming off. She looked from Lucifer to SD and back again. "What possessed you guys to paint Bliss pink? You do realize that Starscream is gonna kill you, and if he doesn't Sam might."

Lucifer squirmed under her gaze, looking sheepish. "Sorry, Kaela." He ducked his little helm.

**16\. sharp**

Mikaela touched one of the long, clawed digits on Barricade's servo. She slid a finger across it: careful not to cut herself on the sharp surface. He was all sharp planes and angles. It made him all the more interesting to her.

**17\. pinch**

She thought it was an accident at first. But then he did it again. His holoform gave her a little mischievous grin, and pinched her. He laughed when she shrieked with indignation, swatting at him. "Cade, you brat, cut it out!"

"Whatever, fleshling," and pinched her again, grinning and laughing.

 **18\. sea**  
The crashing waves had a purple hue unlike Earth's oceans. "Wait until you see the mercury seas of Cybertron. They have nothing on this. I promise you."

Mikaela smiled faintly, just glad to be by his side. "I'm sure. I cannot wait, my love."

 **19\. kind**  
"Shhh...don't cry." Mikaela said helping the little bot to his feet. She offered him a rust stick, and soon, his tears cleared up.

"Kaela?" he blinked up at her, his red optics large in his little face.

"Yes, Lucifer?"

"I want my mommy."

"I know, sweetie, I know."

 **20\. life**  
Cade watched Mikaela sleep, She slept more and more these days, The children growing inside her sapping at her strength. Ratchet assured him that both mother and child were well enough. They were thriving, even for hybrids. Which in truth, tended to be heartier than their Cybertonian brethren.

His own nanites gave him the data; they were doing well. They were all healthy, and yet, he was still terrified they would do something wrong. Even with his confident exterior, had his own progenitor felt like this?

**21\. settling**

Mikaela looked around the suite, pleasantly surprised. She had been rather doubtful when Barricade suggested they join the crew of one of the patrol vessels. The offer of CMO had been enough to finally sway her. The other options had not been as charming.

Either way,, they needed to leave planet-side. She looked frozen in time, and it was getting harder to explain away. The children were another matter. She ran her hand through her already mussed hair.

Hard to explain, and getting to be dangerous. She was always a worried some one would kidnap one of the kids in an attempt to crack open the secret of just what they were.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the youngest twins came running in yelling at the top of their lungs. Mikaela could only smile despite the worry.

**22\. alignment**

Mikaela sat in front of the shiny new laptop Cade bought her. She frowned, not impressed with Azeroth in the least. She wasn't sure how Cade, Bee, and Sam could be so addicted to a game, but she was willing to humor them for the time being. She glanced up at Barricade, "I will give it a try, but I would think Halo is more in your alignment."

"I can multi-task."

"Oh...right." Mikaela rolled her eyes.

**23\. time**

Barricade checked his chronometer. He was late. Had he not been in his alt-form, he would have gnashed his dental plates together. Very, very late in fact. He cursed, it was the most important concert of the season. He was sure his family was already there, the musicians warming up. So very, very late.

**24\. code**

Mikaela watched her oldest working diligently on the data-pad. "Got it."

"Maybe. It..." Cadence scowled at it. "Maybe. I'm not very good at writing out code. Why do we even need to learn?"

Mikaela smiled, always so many questions. "It is a useful thing to know."

"It is boring."

"Only because you make it boring."

**25\. priority**

"I think your priorities are a bit skewed."

"Says the bot who just bought a cartload of games. Can't you just download those?"

"Where is the fun in that?"

"I don't know. All I am saying is clothes are important." Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Seriously. Do you want me to run around the base naked?"

"No, not really," he said in a sulky tone.

"That's what I thought."

**26\. box**

Mikaela smiled looking at the package curiously. "So, what is it?" she asked, looking curious.

"Clearly, a birthing day present." Cade smirked.

Mikaela rolled her eyes, "Smart-aft."

"Well, open it."

"I am, I am." she said, peeling away the paper. She opened up the box and looked at it, puzzled. "Is that..."

"Your own plasma gun."

"Ah-wow-just what I always wanted."

**27\. chest**

Mikaela curled against the warm metal. She smiled sleepily, her eyes half-lidded as she fought to stay awake. Barricade's engine purred in his chest lulling her further towards sleep. He chuckled silently finally feeling her drop off into recharge.

**28\. fear**

Barricade looked up at the sky. Unicron was coming. They all knew that now. Despair was rampant. Fear was a palatable thing. Despite it they had gained allies in unusual places. They had made it through stickier situations, and they would make it through this.

He hoped.

**29\. fold**

Mikaela folded up the remaining clean polishing cloths, and admired her work before throwing the cloths she has used in the hamper. "You look-good."

"By good I take it you mean shiny."

"Yes, that too. Good and Shiny."

"Good is not a word in my vocabulary."

"Whatever, Hellraiser." she smirked at the Autobot symbol emblazoned on his chest. "I'm getting you a dictionary application for your birthing day."

"Like you know when that is."

"As if I would have a hard time finding out."

**30\. headline**

Mikaela looked at the headline to the newspaper as she checked out at the register. It was hard not to roll her eyes at the head-line. "California Lake Monster" indeed. She was sure Bee and Sam would both get an earful about that one. They never did learn.

**31\. independent**

Barricade watched his younger sibling playing with the other two sparklings in Mikaela's care. Screwdriver at least was going to be very independent. She already was. It made him smile that his sibling was such a precocious creature, it served Prime right.

The little-spark was clumsy still, always falling and scraping her knee joints, but she never cried, never ran to her protector to sooth the pain. She just picked herself up and continued on.

He could respect that.

**32\. relation**

She wasn't sure why he continued to write her. She never replied. He had tried to come to the base to see her, but she had made sure he was turned away. She knew how it would go. He would try to convince her to leave. She had no desire too.

She also knew it would be impossible to hide her relationship with Barricade even if she wanted to. She didn't, far from it. Her father wouldn't understand. She could hear the accusations he'd spew. It wasn't something she could deal with.

 **33\. afternoon**  
It was a beautiful afternoons. Mikaela looked up as the sky and watched a trine of seekers wing through the air. "It's beautiful."

"Seeker mating dances always are." Barricade replied, watching the jets bank and spiral into what looked like an impossible turn.

"I'm sure." Her eyes turned to the girl, Alexis, whose eyes were fixed on the purple and black jet. "I'm sure they are."

**34\. compassion**

He did what he could in the battles, snuffing their sparks quickly. It was the only compassion he could manage. The only compassion he could afford under Megatron's rule. A swift death was far more kind that the lingering death most of the Decepticons gave their Autobot prisoners. Still, Barricade knew in his own spark he would go to the Pit for his part in this never ending war.

 **35\. exotic**  
"I like it." Mikaela said. "Gonna take some getting used to." she finally added looking at the changes in his frame.

"Glad you do." he replied gruffly. He was pleased with the changes himself. More than pleased. He found he was enjoying their time in New Vos as well. "We should stay here for a time."

"If you wish."

 

Ratchet watched his newest apprentice intently. She had the talent, the patience. He was proud of how fast she was picking upon things (not that he would admit that to her.) Her small limbs were an advantage when dealing with tiniest parts. There would be vorns before her training was complete, but they had the vorns. More than enough, he hoped. Provided Barricade didn't get himself slagged making the the girl off-lined.

Stupid Boy.

 **37\. Beg**  
"Please."

Barricade watched his mate writhe, and smiled. "Not yet, sweet-spark."

He laughed, loving the way her breath hitched in her chest. She was always beautiful, but he loved it when she begged for it.

"Please. Cade."

"Not yet." he chuckled at her impatience. And he dragged it out as long as he possibly could, savoring each note of her pleasure.

**38\. join**

Barricade glared at the SIC across Prowl's desk. "Are you sure?"

"How long have I been helping your cause now?"

"I just figured you would stay a neutral."

"Right." he bit out. "I figure you guys could always use another scout. And...your cause is Mikaela's."

**39\. interior**

The bunker was slowly becoming more of a home than just a place to rest their heads and recharge. Slowly personal items began to take up space. Pictures, paintings, data-pads, and books made the place look more lived in than not.

**40\. domain**

Barricade watched Mikaela work in the lab. She hummed as she worked, and took notes as she went along. She murmured to herself occasionally. Whatever she was working on this vorn was far from his domain of knowledge, but he still liked to watch her work.

**41\. councilor**

Ratchet and Mikaela had grown close over the vorns that they knew each other. She trusted his council, his advice. He had helped mold her into the woman that she had become more than her birth parents ever had. To the point she considered both him and Optimus her real parents. They made her want to be the best person that she could be, not just for the cause, but because it made them both proud.

**42\. knapsack**

Mikaela hitched the backpack higher on her shoulders, redistributing the weight. They had been walking for what seemed like forever.

"I don't see the point of this." Barricade groused.

"It's a nature walk, stop complaining... You might actually enjoy it. Besides, everyone should go camping at least once in their life. Humor me, love?" She smiled, giving him a pouting look that never failed on him.

"When do I not?" he grumbled back.

**43\. purple**

Mikaela looked at the two children looking back at her from the gurney. The fact that they were sitting; and not running around the room, getting into things was astounding. They were hyper children, like their progenitor. They both had the biggest violet colored eyes she had ever seen. Vivid in a way that it was clear they were not entirely human. They were quiet as she took the blood and skin samples, not flinching back from the pain. No doubt their mother had drilled it int their heads that it was necessary.

**44\. dark**

The bunker was dark by the time Mikaela made her way across the base. Crickets chirped, and an owl called out somewhere in the darkness. Mikaela ignored it as she finally stepped into her home. She was exhausted, more in mind than in body. Ratchet was a hard task master, but for once in her life she felt as though she really belongs. She felt like she was making a difference. That it was not with her own kind, she simply took it in stride. Sometimes, there was just no helping them, anyway.

**45\. repayment**

There were times when Barricade wondered, however briefly, what he had done to deserve such a chance. He wondered what repayment he would have to pay in the after life for the chance he was given. He never doubted for a moment that it was worth it, whatever the cost. And sometimes he prayed to whatever gods where listening, be it Primus or one of the humans Gods, that it would be a very long time before he would have to pay such a price.

**46\. discipline**

Barricade watched Mikaela fidget. These days she did not take down time very well. As she said, she had much to do, and much more to learn. He made sure that she took time off. If he didn't take care of her, no one would. She was growing just as bad as Ratchet.

**47\. frequenter**

Barricade glared at the child in front of him. "You are lucky you did not break your neck this time."

"But..."

"Hinder. You are not a seeker. You cannot fly."

"But..."

"I don't care what nonsense Bliss has been feeding you. Stop it. You are making your mother worry, and you are making Ratchet cross..."

He considered it, "Well, more cross than usual."

The child huffed, it couldn't be called anything less, and glared at his progenitor.

**48\. typing**

Mikaela's fingers flew across the keyboard of her laptop as she entered the notes she had taken over the course of the day. It was times like these she envied the bots internal processors. If she was able to make such files herself without going to this trouble it would save a lot of trouble. If she were honest she even envied the datamancers, like Alexis, to change a code with a thought.  
Perhaps, one day!

After all, upgrades could be made.

 **49\. outcry**  
When the truth of the Autobots came to the light of the populous, it changed things for everyone. Mikaela and most of the humans involved with the bots did their best to stay out of the public eye. It didn't work as well as it should have despite their best efforts. Word got out, and there was an outcry, and worse still disgust.

It hurt Mikaela soul deeply that strangers would judge her for her love. The religious zealots were the worst, sending death threats. It was frightening. More than that, she worried for her family and the other humans in her position. when Barricade proposed it, it made it so much easier to just leave the rock and go off planet.

**50\. damned**

Mikaela scowled at the note she held out before Optimus. She had thrown the stupid thing in a bag, and had not touched it. She was becoming as paranoid as Prowl or Redalert. She couldn't care about that now.

She was tired of receiving death-threats and notes from crazies that went on ad nauseam about how she and all of her cursed offspring were damned.

**51\. pullout**

The pullout of the Decepticon forces was not a surprise at this point. Things were not going well, even Barricade could see that. They had suffered too many defeats the past few vorns, and it worried Barricade more than anything. He worried for the cause and just as equally for Megatron's state of processor.

**52\. stir**

Mikaela chased the children through the crowded recreation room. They yelled and screamed, whooping loudly as they avoided her. The fact that it did not cause a stir said more than anything. It was a common occurrence, and by the time she caught him they were all laughing. "Brats." she admonished them.

**53\. shrewdness**

One had to have a certain amount of shrewdness to have survived in the Decepticon ranks as long as Barricade had. Shrewdness or sheer-dumb-luck as some would have it. Barricade was just glad he hadn't been slagged by any of the Autobots, yet. He couldn't say that they had not tried. He supposed that was where the luck came in.

**54\. workplace**

Mikaela looked over the med-bay of the Valiant, checking drawers, cupboards and shelving units trying to familiarize herself with what they had, and what supplies she would need to procure. She took out a data-pad and sighed as she began to make her list.

**55\. nest**

Mikaela had Barricade re-arrange the furniture for what seemed like the millionth time. He didn't complain, much to the surprise of Bumblebee. "What is wrong with her?"

"Just nesting, I guess." Sam shrugged.

"What? Oh, never mind. I don't even want to know."

**56\. blank**

Mikaela gave Barricade a blank look. "What?"

He scowled a her and grumbled, "I didn't think it was a bad idea. I mean...I really don't think it would be a bad idea."

"Think it all you want, I don't want to...have a formal ceremony. Don't you think what we have is enough? We are on paper already, and I don't need that. I love you and what we have."

"But I took away your-"

"Hush. I wouldn't have it any other way."

**57\. darkness**

Mikaela walked across the base towards the bunker she called home. It was never truly dark in Autobot City, and she was thankful for it. She had never liked the dark, and liked it even less walking home in it. Still, she couldn't help but look up.

The stars were barely visible beyond the faint glow of the cities lights.

**58\. strictness**

Optimus had never been a good disciplinarian to his eldest child, and said eldest child was clearly the same. He was, as Mikaela put it, a pushover, without an ounce of strictness. He meant well. He even usually meant to make the children mind, but it really got past the "meant to" stage. They had only to look at him with big sad eyes and his resolve crumbled every time.

**59\. move**

They reached a compromise, summers away from the base. The children, oddly enough, took the seasonal move in stride, as if they were going on a prolonged sleep over. They seemed to enjoy it. Nearly as much as they enjoyed the trips aboard Valiant.

**60\. hazard**

She supposed it was a hazard that came with the territory-the never ending fear of accidentally being stepped on. It wasn't something they would have done on purpose, but she always worried a little bit about it. Especially around some of the former Cons, Barricade aside. She could not entirely trust them. Certainly not to be careful enough where humans were concerned.

 **61\. optic**  
Barricade frowned as he made his way to the infirmary, the paint on his one optic blocking out a good portion of his vision. He was sure he was going to catch hell from Ratchet. Sometimes he wondered how Mikaela could stand working with the Mech.

**62\. sanction**

None of them were happy with the human government's sanctions. None more so than Barricade. He was already making plans to get his family off this mud-ball. He refused to be controlled by the fleshlings, but more importantly the death-threats were scaring Mikaela.

**63\. newborn**

Orion held the little gray sparkling in his arms, he was so very small. Elita was already in recharge, and Orion knew he would join her soon. But for now he rocked his first born. He had so much hope.

**64\. prodigal**

Optimus watched his eldest and sighed, air hissing through his vent. Somethings never changed. Barricade was still the prodigal child he remembered. Reckless...even with his love. He lavished gifts on the girl, which Prime knew was unneeded.

Mikaela loved him regardless.


	3. The Decisions We Make

**1\. clash**

While the Decepticon threat had left the planet for the time being, There was still threats to everyone's safety in the form of a more human threat. Mikaela could not help but worry about each new clash they faced. Each new threat held the danger of loss, they could not be too careful. They could not afford to be.

**2\. denominator**

They had many things in common, love of music and speed, love for each other. It smoothed out the rough bits of their relationship, and brought them closer together if anything. They marveled in the sameness as much as they did their differences.

**3\. solid**

The warm metal was solid beneath her. Warm. She could feel the faint hum of his spark-beat as she drifted somewhere between awake and asleep. Just drifting. She was content to do so for now. Morning was too far off. She was warm, safe, and ill-inclined to move at the moment.

Instead she curled up in the warmth and considered her present situation. It was not one that she thought she would be in. As inauspicious as it had started though, she would not change things. She did her best not to think of the things she would miss out on. It could always have been worse, she figured. She could be Sam.

**4\. disaster**

Mikaela, though she was loathed to admit it, knew a disaster when she was one. Or more accurately when she was a part of one. Rain dripped down the back of her neck. Her hair was plastered to her head. "We should have checked the weather." she grumbled, as she tried to decide if she should get in or not.

"Just get in, I don't want you to get pneumonia again."

She ducked in, still dripping wet. "What, you don't like babying me when I'm ill?"

"I love you, but you are crankier than a turbofox when you are sick." the voice came from the speaker, just as he cranked the heat up full-blast.

"Ah, no more hikes then, not without checking the weather first. Far be it from me to be crankier than a turbofox."

**5\. skip**

Mikaela didn't look up from the data-pad she was reading as Barricade walked into the bunker. "Ratchet's been looking for you. He said if you keep skipping your check-up he's going to-oh,how did he put it...knock you upside the head with a wrench, drag you to the med-bay, and weld your aft to an exam table. Might be in your best interest to head over there." she said dryly. "Pretty sure he meant it."

He only grunted.

She smiled when she heard him stomp right back out the door. "That's what I thought." she murmured, and wisely held back a chuckle until he was well out of hearing distance.

**6\. ready**

"Okay, I'm ready to go." Mikaela chirped.

Barricade glared at her. "You aren't going."

"Of course I am, you guys might need a field medic. Besides, TC will keep me safe."

Barricade grunted. "You-"

"Already going, see you there."she said dashing out the door.

**7\. muscle**

Mikaela glared, "Stop acting like I am on my death-bed. It's just a pulled muscle."

"I can feel your pain, Primus, how can you even stand it. It hurts." he said mournfully.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, seriously. It's not that bad."

"Well, don't do it again."

"Wasn't planning on it the first time, sweetie."

**8\. strain**

Her eyes were beginning to feel the strain of looking through the microscope all day. Perceptor tutted at her, and stated, as he often did that she never took very good care of herself. She had said the same thing to him on no few occasions.

"Oh, Perce, you worry too much." she winked at him, more amused than any thing.

He gave her a little smile, "One of us has to. I fear your mate's bravado has worn off on you."

"You do know.-Those are fighting words."

**9\. cozy**

Their room on the Valiant was small, according to Barricade. Mikaela found it to be a nice size. It was cozy, and she had everything that she needed. Granted, it was not as big as their homes in Autobot City, or in Los Angeles. It was all the same to her. The children had their own suite, which was even better.

**10\. somebody**

Sometimes, even after all of the months they had been together, she still found it off that the somebody was him. It was not quite what she imagined it to be. She had thought for the smallest time it might be Trent, but he proved to be the biggest of jerks. Then Sam to say that didn't work. He proved to be a far better friend than love interest. Much to his protests to the contrary, she still firmly believed he was more interested in boys than her, or maybe it was just bots. It was hard to tell as far as that went. Still, she loved him for all that she was not IN love with him.

Then it happened. Something that should have been horrible. Kidnapped. Dragged god knows where across the desert. It could have been, should have been disastrous.

It wasn't. Slowly they got to know one another and something just opened between them. It wasn't just the bond. He had formed that with the worse intentions. She had taken control of it with the best. A small park of her, that she would never voice aloud simply KNEW that they were just meant to be together. It was just what was supposed to be, and oddly she was content with that. He was just that somebody, and Mikaela at least could live with that.

**11\. maze**

The Rat Maze, as Mikaela, like most of the other citizens of Autobot City called it seemed to stretch out endlessly. She knew them well enough at this point to navigate them blindfolded. The Rat Maze encompassed the underground parts of the Autobot city. Bunkers and tunnels, generally the places the claustrophobic seekers avoided. They had their own towers that now loomed high above the ground level city.

**12\. observer**

To the casual observer Autobot City was vast. It stretched out across the dessert behind high walls. The large administration building took up a great deal of the skyline, as well as the towers rising about it. They were painted in brown, dusty yellows, and the rusty, muted reds of the desert around it. It looked vast, but the casual observer would not see the tunnels and bunkers far underneath the ground, although the entrance leading down into the bunkers that provided the living space to most of the bots and humans cohabiting together hinted at it. Most of those were hidden by hangers and other buildings that seemed to pop up overnight. Mikaela Cade was not a casual observer. She was well aware of the city underneath that stretched out for miles.

**13\. dialog**

Her own mate was quiet. They did not have to have a constant dialog to know what was going on, and to know what she needed to do. She knew their wants, needs, and even their plans on an intrinsic level. At most, she was used to their affectionate banter, and his witty repertoire. They had the same dry humor. It was why they meshed together so well.

It came as no surprise, to Barricade at least, that pairing her up with Bluestreak was, perhaps, not the best of ideas. He could tell already that she would be strangling him had he been an organic and not an rather large mech. He didn't agree with sending her out at all, but he was confident Bluestreak would keep her safe. Never mind that the pair they would have normally sent out, Warp and Alexis, were Primus knows where, doing the Pitt knew what. He didn't care either way, provided Mikaela came back in one piece. Either way she was eager to test something that she, Wheeljack and Alexis were working on. Something about modified nanites. He didn't understand it, or even exactly what the technopath could do. They had explained it often enough, but he didn't care enough to listen that hard. All he knew was that Alexis could make the nanites listen to her and act accordingly. Mikaela had said something about invisibility, something about Mirage, and something else about field studies. As he pointed out to her numerous times, 'Mikaela, I'm a scout not a scientist.' It never quite stuck in that brain of hers, so he generally settled himself and just listened. He always loved the sound of her voice either way, so it was a win-win sort of situation.

**14\. selection**

Mikaela skimmed through the selection. Finally holding up two cases. "Action or horror?"

Sam plucked one of the cases from her hand, and popped it into the DVD player. "Duh, horror."

Mikaela raised a brow, and finally made herself comfortable against Barricade.

**15\. acceptance**

He had his moods. Sometimes he was cranky, and surprisingly enough not a morning kind of bot. He didn't come right out of charge like Bee did. He was slow to wake and not one to be hurried. Mikaela was much the same.

She was not herself until after breakfast. It was useless to talk to her before that. More likely than not you would only receive a snapping reply, if that. There was a certain amount of acceptance between them. They both had their flaws and they understood this emphatically and moved on from there.

**16\. opinion**

Mikaela glared at the mech before her. "Don't you dare try to present your opinion as fact."

"You aren't safe." He said in a hard tone.

"Nothing has happened."

"Yet. Nothing has happened yet."

Mikaela leveled a glare at him. "Security is tight."

"And it would only take a small lapse before something dangerous did slip in. I would think the hate mail would be enough. Be reasonable." Barricade sighed.

"These people...bots-whatever-are my family. I'm not going to run off just because a few stupid people are trying to scare me away."

He sighed, she wouldn't listen now. He could only hope she would before it was too late.

**17\. weakness**

Mikaela sighed, sometimes she did not know what to do with him. They were still getting used to one another. Still learning each others habits. Still trying to understand just what they were to each other. Sometimes he was so unreachable, and so angry. "I don't care what he told you."

He looked up from the data-pad he had been reading. "What?"

"I don't care what Megatron drilled into your head. Love isn't a weakness. Emotions aren't weak. Please...stop being like this."

He watched her for a moment, his gaze steady. "I know. I-it is hard for me."

She snorted, "Do you think this is any easier for me?"

He smiled. It was lop-sided, which she found endearing. "I cannot imagine that it is."

She nodded, "I will make you a deal. I will try harder, if you will too."

He nodded, it was an easy decision.

**18\. planning**

"What are you doing?" Mikaela asked.

Cade gave a nonchalant shrug. "I did not think you would be adverse to getting away from...this. Maybe a week at the loft?"

Her eyes widened for a moment, surprised by the suggestion. "Could we, really?" She flushed, it had been months since they had been to the home he had created for her. "Seriously."

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I thought otherwise."

**19\. appeal**

Mikaela watched Alexis scuttle about, full of nervous energy. In the months they had known each other they had grown close. She worried for the other woman. Alexis took far, far too many risks. "You should be more careful." Mikaela finally said.

"Mmm...I don't know about that." Alexis shrugged, "Warp will protect me."

"He can't be there all the time. Just...just be careful."

**20\. feel**

She still wasn't sure how she felt about it. She had never expected to have a child, much less lose one. She had not been that far along, granted. However,when she took a moment to examine her feelings on the matter, it hurt none the less. She sighed, finally feeling the holoform's arms around her, Barricade pulled her tight against his chest. His own mind joined hers, echoing the same sorrow.

**21\. moderation**

Mikaela's eyes ached from staring at data-pads all day. Working from home was deemed necessary, what with the virus effecting the nanites of anyone foolish to come in contact with one of the affected. She had been working with their medical staff, as well as the resident technopath, for a cure. They were close, so close, and by some miracle they had not lost anyone as of yet.

"I realize it is a matter of grave importance, fleshling," Barricade said as he plucked the data-pad from her hands. "But killing yourself with sleep exhaustion will not help anyone. Moderation, my love. Recharge."

He made it sound more like an order than a request. She glared, but for once did not protest. He was right after all.

**22\. puzzle**

Mikaela always had liked a good puzzle. She was more than passing fond of them. Normally. This puzzle, not so much. She could not, for the life of her, understand how the love of her life, one of the Decepticons most feared warriors, and the son of a Prime be such a...prude. Perhaps he was not by human standards. But from what she had seen of Cybertronian...she wondered about him sometimes.

He was possessive-which she found in turns annoying and endearing. It was not a normal trait of his people. Not when trines, and retinues such as Sam's. The retinues especially interested her; at least, on an intellectual level. The complex relationships that was often made up of trines and other individuals. She couldn't quite imagine being tied to so many people, or Cybertronians, as was the case.

Thundercracker, at least, had told her it was more common in Vos and Praxus. Large groups often raised seekerlets between them. His own trine was raised that way, although, oddly enough none of the Praxian's she knew were.

Cybertronian dating practices, she didn't even want to touch that, although seeing Barricade's and Optimus's horrified expression at Prowl's antics had been more than a little amusing. It did, however, make her sincerely happy she had ended up with someone from Iacon. They were staid by comparison, they didn't go into heat like the Praxian's and Vosian's. Although, sadly, they were not above kidnapping their mates to be as she could attest to.

**23\. restaurant**

Oddly enough The Olive Garden had became a staple of "date night." Mikaela was not even entirely sure why. Their food was okay, nothing spectacular. It did seem to amuse Barricade though.

The local restaurant had also become an impromptu place for meetings, provided, of course it did not involve any 'trine business.' Sadly, it was just too difficult to hide a trio of raptors. Not surprisingly this was something that Skywarp had a difficult time getting through his thick circuits. Mikaela only sighed in exasperation as she explained for what seemed like the two millionth time, "Yes, Alexis is invited. No, you cannot come with us." But that applied to a lot of things.

"No, you can't buzz over the interstate. It causes wrecks."  
"No, you can't go to the mall with us. Do you see a runway there?"  
"No...pretty sure the park would be a bad idea."

Sometimes she felt like wringing Alexis' neck. The girl made herself scarce whenever the word 'no' should have been coming out of her mouth. Mikaela hated being the bad guy.

**24\. writer**

Some people collected trains-which Mikaela found bizarre. Some people practiced ornithology. Some people collected stamps or coins. Barricade had two big hobbies-aside from his musical endeavors-the first being on-line gaming, the second ghost writing.

**25\. literal**

"Oh. Great we are going to hell in a hand-basket for this."

"I do not believe I would fit in one."

"Fit in what, Cade?"

"A hand-basket? Pretty sure it would be too small for me, and in all honesty for you as well."

"No, I really don't mean in the literal sense. It's a saying. Like...things are FUBAR." Mikaela blinked at him.

"When aren't they?"

"Got me." She smiled, despite the debacle was turning out today. "Still, I don't think Optimus would approve."

"You care that much for his approval?"

"I respect his opinion, not his dictation in our lives."

"We are family."

"Well...yes." Mikaela frowned.

"He is the head of said family."

"Cade." Mikaela said in warning.

"I'm just saying."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm still going to ask. We need to be away from here for a bit. I need to be away. Everyone is driving me crazy." Mikaela sighed. Even a camping trip would be welcome at this point. A break from her studies. Just a break.

**26\. disadvantage**

Mikaela craned her head up, her eyes wide. Her height was always a disadvantage in such matters, but she did not let it faze her. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did you say?"

Had he been human he would have blanched, "Oh...well...never-mind, I'm sure you will be safe,"

"That's what I thought." Mikaela's scowl turned into a smile. "You could come with me, you know. A trip into town is just what we both need, don't you think?"

"Possibly." He agreed.

"Just because it isn't safe doesn't mean we shouldn't do things off base. We can't let them dictate our lives. They just...they win if we do."

"No, fear is never the way to live." Barricade agreed.

**27\. romantic**

Mikaela walked into the bunker, and for one disorienting moment she thought that she might have walked into the wrong bunker. The lights were off, the only illumination was candles. A lot of candles, leaving the room in a soft glow.

"Cade?"

"In here." he called, clearly in the dining area.

She walked in, and found the table set, his holoform grinning at her. The food smelled wonderful. "You cooked?" she asked warily, remembering what happened last time he did. Food poisoning.

He laughed, "Actually, no, Sarah helped me."

Her lips curled into an amused smile.

**28\. enquiry**

Mikaela skimmed through the data-pad she was reading. It was slow going as she had to work out each character in her mind. "Will this ever get any easier?" she groaned.

"In time." he chuckled, a low rumble. "have a bit of patients."

**29\. cooking**

Mikaela puttered around in the kitchen. It was not her native environment, but she managed to survive it, mostly-barring a few disastrous incidents. Still, Cade watched in morbid fascination as she made something she deemed 'Spa-Get-E.' To him, at least, it looked like a disgusting mess of red mushy material, and what looked a great deal like worms.

She stopped, and glared. "Stop thinking about it so hard. Worms-it doesn't look like worms. You are ruining my appetite."

He pushed down his disgust. She needed to refuel. Human food, though, was not something he ever wanted to experience for himself. He often wondered how she could stand the stuff. It boggled his processor.

**30\. slice**

Mikaela looked down at the half-eaten slice of pizza. It was delicious. Double cheese. Extra sauce. No meat. It wasn't really her thing these days. Still, she couldn't miss Cade staring. "A picture lasts longer." she smiled, knowing he wouldn't get the reference. The long pause telling her he was searching the web for it's meaning. Her smile grew. "So, what is the recent obsession with what I'm eating?" Although when she thought about it he had always been a bit obsessed. When they were on the run he had always been more than a bit concerned with her nutrition. It was endearing.

"That...is not good for your body."

"Well, no, but it tastes good." She laughed.

"I don't see how."

"Just take my word for it, sweetie."

**31\. genetics**

Mikaela went through her notes, humming to herself. Perceptor looked over her shoulder, curious.

"Find anything interesting?" he asked.

"Nothing conclusive, precisely. I was just thinking about what Sam has told me. What the All-spark told him, rather. It would stand to reason your holoforms are projections of would you would have looked like had you been born,well...human. The originals that is. Cade even said it is what he is most comfortable in. You can make holoforms of other species, but it is like an ill fitting suit."

Perceptor nodded, "It would stand to reason, all things considered."

She smiled faintly, "And by extension the nanites contain the genetic coding."

"An interesting theory."

"Now, I just need to get a hold of some of those nanites."

"Oh, Primus."

"Oh, Primus indeed." Mikaela laughed.

**32\. amusement**

Mikaela watched her bond-mate flip through the stations, grumbling. "How do you humans watch this drivel?"

Mikaela blinked at the screen and laughed, "No one has ever claimed daytime television is good."

He grumbled, still flipping through.

She couldn't help but smile in amusement. He suffered a lot to be with her. She chuckled silently at the thought.

**33\. receiving**

They were rarely on the receiving end of their father's ire. Cadence and Hinder both bucked their dark heads, not daring to meet the red optics. Barricade huffed, his temper failing him. They were worse tricksters than Rumble and Frenzy ever dreamed of being.

"Just go to your room." he said in exasperation.

The twins ran as fast as their legs could carry them, their door slamming behind them.

"Why is the kitchen covered in-grape jelly?" Mikaela asked as she walked in, looking exasperated.

"Primus only knows." Barricade sighed.

**34\. driving**

Mikaela sat at the wheel of her rental car perplexed. It had been so long since she had driven it was a wonder she had not forgotten. Cade had nearly insisted on going with her, but she had sighed and waived him off, maybe next time. She sat in front of the house, frowning and battling with herself. After several minutes she finally got up the nerve, got out and walked down the beaten-up sidewalk. She rapped on the door, and waited. Waited some more. The door finally opened, and it was all she could do not to cringe. "Hi, daddy."

**35\. psychology**

Psychology, reverse or otherwise never seemed to work on her children. They were, as Mikaela's father would put it, heathens. Prone to trouble and pranks. That was not to say they were not good children, or that they could not behave. They were very good, when they wanted to be. Sadly those times were few and far between. More often than not they left a trail of destruction behind them.

**36\. governed**

Autobot City was, essentially, it's own nation, after a fashion. It was not governed by the state that it was in, or really even by the federal government so much. They tried to be self-sufficient as possible, and for the most part it worked. Mikaela found life their interesting, she even found Hound's green houses interesting. They helped keep her fed, after all.

**37\. acquaintance**

Upon meeting her, Mikaela was not too sure about Skywarps 'girl.' She was everything that Mikaela was not. Neat, quiet, bookish. She seemed nice enough, but she also seemed like a very odd match for Warp, who possessed none of those qualities. It was all very, very odd.

**38\. right**

"You do realize that you are not always right." Mikaela  
"Perhaps, but in this case I am. I really, really think you should see your family. Do it before it's too late. Otherwise you shall be regretting it, sweet-spark."

Mikaela huffed, glaring before finally giving in. "Fine. Whatever."

He smiled in amusement. After all, he was always right.

**39\. duration**

She was quiet for the duration of the trip to Los Angeles. Quiet as they raced across the desert. She curled up in the seat, in a tight ball, flinching at any out of place sound. She braced herself as if expecting jet fire to break the night. Surprisingly it did not. They made it into town after their break-neck race. Still she did not feel safe. Couldn't feel safe. "They are going to kill us, aren't they?" She said in the silence.

He did not break it for a very long time. "It is a very big possibility. I am sorry."

**40\. sarcasm**

"Oh, that is going to go over Really well." Mikaela said, sarcasm making her voice snap.

Barricade made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort. "Right."

"I'm serious. Do you realize how irked Ratchet will be with me if I just take off for a-a-mini vacation?"

It was clear he was laughing this time. "I think he will live."

"Yes, but will I?"

"Not like he's going to start throwing wrenches at you." He smiled in amusement.

**41\. deal**

They all sat around the poker table. Mikaela winked at Cade's Holo, and then grinned still more when Sam started to deal the cards. Sam had the worse poker face, and for that matter so did Bee. Bluestreak was worse. He squealed when he looked at his cards.

**42\. obsession**

Spending time with him was possibly the best obsession that she could imagine. She smiled in the dark. Her life was nothing like she had ever imagined that it would be. She wasn't going to complain. Far from it. It was...amazing.

They sat on the roof of the bunker together, looking up at the stars. The night was quite for once. A rarity. "It's beautiful." Mikaela said, squinting up at the stars.

"For a mud-ball, it does have a nice view."

Her lips quirked up, "For a mud-ball."

**44\. crossing**

They met Bee and Sam at the crossing as planned. Sam looked exhausted.

"I take it your scouting mission didn't go well?" Mikaela asked, looking them both over.  
"It went as well as it could." Sam offered. "We didn't get caught."

"We didn't get what we went for either." Bee said, annoyance plain in his voice. "Mech's security is tight, we did get Intel on that."

"Good enough." Barricade sighed, it was a relief that they wouldn't be fighting their way home or breaking into the compound to rescue the pair.

**45\. pay**

"Everything costs something." he hedged.

"Not everything." Mikaela frowned.

"Even love, the only difference is how you pay."

"Oh, that is a horrible thing to say, Cade."

"How is it horrible?" he laughed.

"It's cynical."

"I happen to like paying you in adoration and devotion. It is not a bad payment plan."

She rolled her eyes, and threw up her hands, "I-I don't even."

**46\. thirst**

Mikaela had an endless thirst for knowledge these days, and found it surprising herself. She spent more and more time in the med-bay with Ratchet, learning his trade. She picked it up with surprising ease for the most part.

**47\. weather**

One of the few things that Barricade truly appreciated about his new home world, aside from his mate, was the weather. There was something truly gratifying about being about to move about in a Terran rainstorm without the fear of melting. The weather on Cybertron had rarely been so forgiving.

**48\. danger**

"Shh..." Mikaela shivered, hugging the children tight against her as they hid in the panic room. They had gotten in too easily. The alarms had not been tripped. They could, at least, not get in where they were hidden. Hinder whimpered and Mikaela hugged him closer to her. "Be brave, sweet-spark." she whispered. Barricade was already on his way back to the warehouse, with reinforcements.

**49\. stress**

"You need to relax." Barricade said, watching her. "Stressing out is not going to help matters."

"I know." she stopped pacing. "I-just never really thought about it..."

"Space travel?"

"It's a bit scary."

"Yes, The first time is."

**50\. professional**

Mikaela frowned, looking at the woman in front of her. She was the fourth Mikaela had interviewed on this round. The woman had a professional demeanor, and her credentials were good. Mikaela smiled, at her. "Well, Jenny, we will be getting back with you." Her lips curled into a genuine smile. They had hoped to hire at least three such teachers. As much as she loved that all of the bots were helping educate the children so far, she knew, and Alexis agreed, that they needed at least some formal learning. It was just going to be difficult finding a teacher that could understand their children's idiosyncrasies.

**51\. god**

Mikaela had never been particularly religious. Things changed. Dealing with Sam had shown her that there was indeed something else. Someone listening. Even to them. It brought her some measure of comfort. Perhaps it was not all for nothing.

**52\. fan**

His cooling fans kicked on, double-time. Mikaela chuckled to herself noting his exasperation with her. "All hot an bothered?" She smirked.

He did not smile, but instead watched her steadily, growling. "Tease."

"And you love me for it." she declared.

**53\. urge**

There were certain urges she had these days. Sam called it nesting, Barricade called it annoying-although he said it was endearing none-the-less. Mikaela just wanted it to be over. It was awkward to walk, to sit, and worse still to get up. She put a hand on her stomach, and felt the flutter of movement. It was all worth it. Even the odd cravings. All of it.

**54\. peace**

There was an odd sort of peace on Christmas night at the base. Everything was so quiet and still. Hot, yes, and it made her long for cooler weather and snow, but this would do for now. She walked back into the bunker, smiling at those who had gathered there, and the tree that towered of them, the humans at least. These beings, they were her family, and she found not a small measure of peace in that.

**55\. telescope**

Mikaela looked through the telescope. "Oh, it's beautiful," She said softly.

"Yes, it is." Perceptor chuckled. "Alpha Centauri is beautiful, yes."

"Cybertron is there?""

"Yes, and we are searching for a suitable system to move it to."

"Why not move it here?" Mikaela asked, perplexed.

"Planetary orbits are a delicate thing. Moving it too close could rip earth apart."

Her eyes widened. "Oh."

**56\. hunting**

He was made for this. Hunting, scouting, it was in his very makeup. Barricade picked up the signal easily. ::Got'em. Sending coordinates now.::

::ETA in twenty kliks.:: Came Optimus' reply. ::Any idea who it is?::

::Negative, I thought it best not to approach.:: The last thing they needed was a disorientated Autobot starting a fire-fight.

**57\. workstation**

Mikaela's workstation in the lab was neat in contrast to Wheeljack's. She was not entirely sure how he found anything in that mess. He said it was organized to his specifications. What those specifications were, well no one really knew. Not eve Perce.

**58\. outer**

Mikaela curled up in the seat as he drove down the perimeter road. It wasn't often that he had outer perimeter duty. It wasn't often that she accompanied him. 'I've missed you.' was all she had had to say though before he agreed. They didn't talk. They didn't need to. Just being together was enough. Her presence a comfort as he scanned the area for hostiles.

**59\. abandon**

Mikaela looked through the files of the project that Ratchet and Starscream had long since abandoned. Their Twin Project was interesting. "There is something here, she said at last. Maybe you were just using the wrong test subjects. What about a Prime? Or Prime-kin, actually. I bet Lyra and Stardrift would be more than willing to help."

Starscream snorted, "Right."

Mikaela rolled her eyes, he was so difficult some times. "I'm serious, and keep your snark to yourself, Scree."

It was time to leave again. Mikaela looked wistfully about the California landscape and sighed. She'd miss this place,but they would be back, eventually. They always came back.

**61\. welcoming**

They tore down the road, desert on either side of them, and Autobot city rising up before them. She could not remember a more welcoming sight. It was not as beautiful as the airy heights of Vos, or the crystal and silver towers of Iacon that she often saw in Barricade's memories, but it was home.

**62\. teenager**

Mikaela was not prepared for teenagers, much less teenage girls. Titania and Miranda were nearing adulthood, seventeen for just a few more months. They made her want to pull out her hair in truth. They were too young for bonding, but as Barricade pointed out to her whenever he had the chance the girls were not much older than her when her when they bonded. She could only glare at him when he brought it up. The girls were her babies after all.

She also questioned their choices. Titania's choice of Ultrawave made sense. They were of age, the boy was smart dashing and pretty easy on the eye. He was as Cybertronian as Titania had been raised...as much as they could be considering their hybrid status. Miranda's choice though, boggled her mind. When Perceptor had approached her and Cade asking permission to court her she had assumed nothing would come of it. She was...decidedly wrong.  
It made her brain feel as though it would implode.

**63\. gentleman**

The door swung open letting her out before she could reach for it, and he was there offering the crook of his arm. She looked Cade's holoform up and down. "You look good in a suit," she murmured, smiling in amusement.

**64\. demand**

"I could be wrong, but I don't think you are in a position to make demands." Mikaela said smugly, blackmail in hand.

"You cheat." Barricade said in a petulant tone.

"Do not!"

"What do you call this then?"

"A clever way to negotiate?" Mikaela said smugly. "You know Prowl's been trying to find out for weeks who rigged that bucket over his door."

"You are going to get Bee in trouble too."

"Collateral damage."

"Mikaela."

"What?:"

"You sound like a Con."

Mikaela huffed, "Sometimes one has to be devious to get what one wants."

"Oh? I see."

He plucked the list from her hands. "Fine. I will get you what you want." The list was not unreasonable, in truth. Still he was not sure he should feed this new obsession to WoW. Even if she was proving to be an asset to the guild. "Just...put the pictures away."


End file.
